Wet Plate Collodion Assemblages

Windows

project info

This body of work, titled “Windows”, is a series of large scale assemblages made up of 8x10 in Wet Plate Collodion images on aluminum, referred to as “plates”. Over the last 4+ years I’ve created these atop various parking garages in downtown Austin. Often times it can take 8-10 hours of the day to create this work. In the case of the larger assemblages, it required multiple days and weekends to complete them. The camera I work with is an antique 8x10 inch Kodak MasterView camera with a 19” (450mm) f11 Goerz Red Dot Artar lens. You will notice that the views of the city in this series appear reversed. This is due to how the images are seen through the lens, - upside down and reversed. This is similar to how our eyes actually see the world. Shooting with this big cumbersome camera and tripod, I work out of the back of my pickup truck using a compact, homemade, mobile darkroom that enables me to pour, expose, develop, fix, and wash each unique plate as I shoot them (more about the process technicalities can be found on my website). Each plate, even when shot and processed back-to-back, is truly and inherently unique. These Wet Plate photographs are, by their very nature, one-of-a-kind, handmade pieces of art.

Through this series of assemblages, I strive to communicate the way I believe we experience the world. Through the seemingly fragmented yet simultaneously interconnected perspective we are given the opportunity to see both the separateness and wholeness. There is beauty found in the individual pieces, or the
WINDOW panes, that exist both in contrast to and in collaboration with the beauty of the greater whole. This mirrors a multitude of levels of our experiences as humans. We are made up of our parts - past experiences, triumphs, failures, our distinctly fragmented hopes and desires. Each of these parts being meaningful and separate yet serving to create our greater and distinct whole. The large sprawling views present in many of these assemblages reflect this view allowing the viewer to explore and even be consumed by the imagery.

These assemblages, varying in size from the “small” 4-piece, 16 x 20 in. assemblages to the full sweeping 360º, 42-piece, 2 x 12 ft, are also a personal expression of my love for the city of Austin’s ever-transforming and ever-beautiful landscape. I have a deep appreciation for architecture and exploring how and why we create the spaces that populate our urban landscape. The juxtaposition between the historic photographic process and the modern aesthetic is also a driving factor behind my great passion for this body of work, this clash of opposites combining in a compelling manner. The large-scale beauty and uniqueness of these assemblages and the cityscape itself are something I feel deserves to be seen, experienced, and felt in person.

In all my years of creating photographic artwork, no body of work has resonated more deeply, nor felt more fitting to it’s subject matter, than this series of Wet Plate assemblages. I’m honored to share it with you and hope you enjoy it.